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Saturday 22 November 2008

Blair said, ‘Let’s not talk about Iraq’

Blair said to me: ‘Let’s not talk about the war’

An interview with the novelist Robert Harris

So why do our leaders love them so? ‘It’s easy, they’re worshipping power,’ says Harris. ‘These people, educated out of their wits, have evolved the doctrine that there can never be any difference between us and America because they love the glow of being on Christian name terms with the most powerful man in the world. And they love the money. Think of the vast amounts our ex-prime ministers make in America with their memoirs, speaking tours, consultancies and so on. I’m surprised it doesn’t cause more fuss.’

Harris’s worldview is appealing, it rings true; but surely Harris, unlike us, is in a position to challenge world leaders. Hasn’t he ever had it out with Blair? ‘Well, I did begin to discuss it once, but he said, “Let’s not talk about the war”, and I didn’t want to come over all heavy-handed,’ says Harris. A touch too decent of him, perhaps.

So no explanation, no acknowledgment from Blair to Harris as to why he’s departed so radically from their shared vision. Which may be why Harris felt the urge to work it all out in The Ghost — to suggest explanations. But perhaps he also had a secret desire to punish Blair as well. As Evelyn Waugh took his revenge on his faithless first wife by writing her up as the heartless Brenda in A Handful of Dust, so Harris tortures Blair in the guise of Adam Lang, jogging him endlessly up and down the desolate beaches of Martha’s Vineyard in the freezing cold, then consigning him to a grisly end.

‘I’m not sure Tony needs extra punishing — it’s an awful business losing power,’ says Harris (and by now we’ve set off back for the station). ‘Powell I think said of Mrs Thatcher that she’d never had a happy day since she stood down, and that has been confirmed to me recently. I heard stories about her still reading through piles of official documentation, pointlessly, underlining bits in yellow. I can’t imagine Tony’s going to find it much fun either.’ Rain has begun to fall on the canal. Robert Harris puts up an expensive-looking umbrella, smiles, and for a moment he doesn’t look quite so nice.

More articles from: Mary Wakefield | this section

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